This Is Our Home

Fiji's First Settlers, The Myths and the ScienceBy Robert W. SmithRecorded Track
Length1h 50m

About this audiobook

This Is Our Home takes you back 3000 years to the Lapita people, the first humans to settle the Fiji Islands, and follows the evidence trail through pottery sherds, DNA, language and landscape to reconstruct their world. It then sets that scientific story alongside the powerful iTaukei origin myths of Lutunasobasoba, Degei and the Kaunitoni voyage, showing how a colonial administration, missionaries and local chiefs together shaped a national story that was never as ancient as it claimed. Written in an accessible, often wry style, this book moves from remote beaches at Bourewa to UN definitions of indigeneity, from land tribunals and coups to rugby fields and Suva courtrooms, always asking: who gets to say “this is our home”? It is part deep history, part political anatomy of modern Fiji, and part personal journey of a British outsider trying to understand a country where race, land and story are still fiercely contested. Perfect listening for travellers, Pacific history enthusiasts.

Audiobook details

GenreTravel, History
Length1 hr 50 mins
Narrated byRecorded Track
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJun 16, 2026
LanguageEnglish

Table of contents

1Introduction
2CHAPTER 1 HOW DID PEOPLE COME TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC?..
3CHAPTER 2. THE LAPITA PEOPLE COME TO FIJI
4CHAPTER 3. DNA AND LANGUAGES
5CHAPTER 4. A SUMMARY OF THE SCIENCE
Show all chapters
6CHAPTER 5. MYTH - THE GODS COME TO FIJI
7CHAPTER 6. HOW THE BRITISH USED THE GODS TO SORT OUT LAND
8CHAPTER 7. WHAT IT TAKES TO BE INDIGENOUS IN THE MODERN DAY
9CHAPTER 8. RACISM IN FIJI
10CHAPTER 9. THE 2022 FIJI GENERAL ELECTION
11Endnotes

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